Sarah Gatford: Why I (and others!) have joined the Signed Culture board

Signed Culture (previously SPIT) celebrates 25 years this year. So it’s a privilege to join the Board and be able to contribute to its future development.

I’m Sarah Gatford and as a BSL/English Interpreter with a specialism in theatre, performance and the arts this is a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and experience at a national level.

I have seen how interpreters miss out on learning opportunities within training institutions and elsewhere, so have run workshops, developing them to include ‘tame’ actors, and directors who can share some of their skills and expertise. 

I love sharing skills and knowledge and openly encourage interpreters who want to see how performance interpreting works to shadow me. I also work directly with theatre companies, venues, various museums, schools and provide webinars to the Arts sector.  

The hugely knowledgeable John Wilson also joins the Board bringing his broad experience of working with Museums to make them accessible to Deaf people. He is a guide for a number of high profile institutions including the Tate, Science Museum and several others.

He has the role of BSL Tours Curator at the Royal Academy. He has a wide range of experience as a Deaf arts practitioner, as a theatre and television actor, creative signer, and as director of numerous productions ranging from devised performances to BSL translations of Shakespeare. 

He has presented BBC’s See Hear and the Channel 4 series Sign On. From 1992 to 2005 John was Deaf Arts Officer for Shape, an organisation promoting engagement in arts and culture across the UK by disabled, deaf and older people. 

We’re both very excited and privileged to be able to contribute to Signed Culture’s development. 

Scratching the surface

There seems to have been a drive in more recent years to ensure that events and performances are much more accessible. It’s great that this is a thing but it would seem there’s still more work to do to encourage venues and companies to see making things accessible as the norm. After 25 years, Signed Culture still has a role to play, as there’s an element of just scratching the surface when it comes to accessibility. 

Becoming a Board member, I’ve done a bit of research linked to the work of Signed Culture and how it was established. It’s been interesting to find out a few things I didn’t know about the background and membership benefits. I thought I’d share them here to hopefully encourage you to see the benefits of becoming a member.

Background

Signed Culture was originally established as Signed Performance in Theatre (SPIT) in 1994. SPIT was originally established to support the provision of sign language interpreted theatre performances. For over 21 years, hard work was done, with limited resources, to support theatres and theatre interpreters and provide useful information to BSL users.

The remit developed to wider than theatre following a review of the aims and objectives, which was funded by the Arts Council in 2015. Research was done which found that BSL users wanted a central point of information for all accessible arts and cultural events, not just theatre. There was also a feeling that if there was an organisation, which could represent BSL users interests in ensuring that the arts and cultural sector make good decisions when it came to provision of access through BSL, that would be extremely helpful. Arts organisations reported that they wanted more support to reach BSL users and in assessing the quality of their services for Deaf people. 

As a result of this review, the name was changed to Signed Culture to represent the broader range of accessible arts activities being supported.

Membership is free

It’s free to become a member if you’re a BSL user. You’ll be notified of any news relating to BSL access, Deaf performers or venues/companies doing groundbreaking work to do with access. Previous news items are available on the website in the ‘About Us’ ‘Latest News’ section. This is where members can also promote any achievements they’ve had. You’ll be asked which region you live in so that the information you receive is specific to your area. 

You’ll also be the first to find out about accessible opportunities to participate in the arts and ways in which you can give your opinions to arts and cultural organisations about the events they are making accessible.

It would be great, if you’ve got an interest in the Arts and events, if you can be tempted to sign up to Signed Culture. The more Deaf members, the more it can be demonstrated that there’s a huge audience out there wanting more accessible events.

You can find out more about how to become a member of Signed Culture by visiting the Signed Culture website: https://www.signedculture.org.uk/

And like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Venues and organisations

If you work for or represent an arts or cultural organisation that either currently provides or wants to provide services for BSL users, then membership of Signed Culture will give you all the support you need. Membership is open to, and useful for, all kinds of cultural organisations, from theatres to museums to performing arts companies.

If you’re from a venue or organisation we can assist you with audience development through your membership. You will be able to list your accessible events on the website and then these will be promoted on your behalf to the Signed Culture database of BSL users as well as on social media platforms. There is also the opportunity of promoting an event project or initiative on the news page.

As well as a 30% discount on the cost of Signed Culture’s consultancy services, which includes Deaf awareness training focused on the needs of the arts and cultural sector. There’s also always the offer of lots of advice and guidance on all areas of access for the Deaf Community.

The cost of organisational membership is based on the organisation’s turnover in the last financial year. Membership lasts for 12 months. It’s easy to join as you can sign up with a credit card or Paypal via a secure payment platform. If you need to request an invoice, that can be arranged too. 

Find out more at: https://www.signedculture.org.uk/arts-and-cultural-organisations/

Enhance BSL Access

I didn’t realise how much Signed Culture can offer. Being new to the Board, I am keen to encourage as many people as possible to join Signed Culture

and be involved in the enhancement of BSL access in the coming years. 

If you’d like more information, please contact admin@signedculture.org.uk – we look forward to hearing from you!

Sarah Gatford is a consultant, trainer and BSL/English Interpreter. Connect with her via social media or through her website!

hello@sarahgatford.co.uk

www.sarahgatford.co.uk

Twitter: @MsSarahGatford

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahgatford

Facebook: @MsSarahGatford